Ms Jill McCanney:

I might pick up on the point the Senator made on assessment flowing into support which also came out in the opening statements. He will see in the papers we submitted we very much place an emphasis within the learning support and assessment service on that assessment flowing into support and our model is set up to allow a period of six to eight weeks from the point of referral to allow that assessment to take place. That assessment is a transdiciplinary one where take cognisance of what the child or young person's priorities are. We have recently developed an inventory we specifically use within the centre to allow the young person to express what their priorities are as well as the family and the school and then we carry out various assessments bespoke to that young person and a period of observation. All that is compiled and collated into single learning support plans. We aim, by the end of that two-month period, to have compiled that learning support plan. It tends to be quite a heavy, lengthy document because it is not just to span the period of ten months we work with that child or young person, but a plan that takes them forward after we have completed our period of support. We leave that plan with the school, the parent, the respite service and any other services involved so they can carry that forward. It is a plan that moves that assessment directly into the support and sets out clear recommendations, objectives and resources required to support that young person in the ten-month period and beyond we are with them.